


Starlight

by Friendlylycanthrope



Series: Let's Talk About It [7]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, In a way, cause she had her memories erased, takes place immediately after the last work The Jungle Incident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 06:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23966620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Friendlylycanthrope/pseuds/Friendlylycanthrope
Summary: Adora is going stir-crazy while recovering from her injuries. Glimmer thinks of something to help her out and for once, everything goes really great for them.
Relationships: Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Series: Let's Talk About It [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714624
Comments: 5
Kudos: 84





	Starlight

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place immediately after the last work in this series, "The Jungle Incident" and relates to events that happened in that.

  
  


It had been a few weeks since Adora returned with her friends to Bright Moon for r & r. Adora had for the most part healed, except for her broken ankle which was wrapped in a cast-boot, since she insisted on staying active despite medical orders. Try as they might, Glimmer and Bow soon found themselves unprepared for handling Adora being stir-crazy with cabin fever, and relented to letting her stay a little bit more active around the castle. Adora could have a little exercise, as a treat. She hobbled around on her boot trying to remain useful, and Glimmer feared the reasons why. She feared the worst, that the horde would eliminate those who were not useful to save resources. But she never asked Adora about it. 

And of course, it irked Adora to no end that she still couldn’t seem to figure out her healing powers. The sword responded to her desire to become She-Ra, but otherwise she couldn’t unlock its full potential. Which was fine, since there was a lull in horde activity that could best be explained by Catra also trying to recover. 

Glimmer came to a courtyard that was enclosed in the castle, and found Adora studying the ground scrupulously there in the middle of the day. The light came down on her in beautifully visible rays as dust swirled in the air, matching her golden ponytail, but her gaze remained downwards, her brows together as they scanned over the dirt as though trying to solve a puzzle. 

Glimmer came closer to see what was troubling her friend, and was about to call out when she stopped and saw that the whole of the courtyard was covered in writing. Adora had seemingly scraped her sword through the loose dirt, and drawn dozens of figures in First Ones writing, and she was currently trying to decipher it all, looking over connected dots and sharp angles as she carefully stepped around.

“Adora? What is going on?” Glimmer asked. She tried to step into the courtyard without stepping on the writing. 

“I’m trying to figure out how to unlock more of She-Ra’s powers. This writing was inside the halls of the crystal castle, but I’m having trouble figuring it out.” She paused to look around at the swooping arena full of writing again. “The floors inside my room weren’t big enough.” She explained. 

“I mean this is … a lot.” Glimmer exclaimed. “Can you actually read it?” Adora shrugged.

“Bits and pieces. It’s like a bunch of incomplete fragments that I can’t seem to piece together.”

“What does that one say?” She pointed to a random symbol. Adora looked at it for only a second.

“It says ‘From the L’”

“The L?”

“Yeah, that last bit started in an L but it got cut off by the wall crumbling.” Adora sighed. “I keep trying to figure out if any of the pieces could go together, but I have no idea what matches up.” She scratched her head and turned around again, looking over pieces of writing. There was worry on her face, and Glimmer realized that Adora must have been working on this for quite some time. 

“Adora, maybe you need to take a break. This She-Ra stuff doesn’t come easy, but you don’t have to figure it out right now.”

“I just wish Light Hope would be more direct with me. She never gives me answers. She could tell me about the First Ones and my powers or my past... but all I ever do is train against spiders.” There was anger in her tone at the thought of Light Hope, something that gave Glimmer the idea that there was more going on that she didn’t know about. She didn’t ask, but she knew it must have been important for her to go see Light Hope about it as soon as she possibly could when they got back to Bright Moon, and she hadn’t been back to see her since. 

Glimmer came over to Adora and gently grabbed her hand. Adora looked up at her with worry over her problem. 

“Isn’t there any other way to learn First Ones writing?” She offered. Adora sighed. 

“No, the only sources are crumbling ruins. That and the stars.” She said despondently. Glimmer looked up at the sky. There was bright day moonshine and no clouds.

“You’ve talked about the stars before. What were they like?”

Adora looked up at the sky.

“You can’t see them during the day. They only come out at night. Or they did, before Etheria and all its moons got moved to this dimension.” Glimmer squeezed her hand reassuringly. “It was like little pin holes in the night sky, where light could come through in clusters or specs, and they would form shapes… they always stayed in the same place even after millions of years, so people used to navigate by them.” She released Glimmer’s hand, and went back to circle her drawings. “I don’t know why I know that, it just feels like the sky is empty without them. I didn't realize why until She-Ra stuff started happening.”

Glimmer again approached Adora and put a hand on her shoulder as she squatted down, to trace the lines with her finger. She had an idea of what those stars looked like from the description, but still struggled to grok it in fullness. 

“Maybe it’ll be clearer after you’re feeling better. Have you had lunch yet?”

Adora put up a fight, but eventually had to agree with her Commander, and left her drawings and figures to go eat and rest. Glimmer joined her, but her mind stayed on the stars. She had never seen them before, but it sounded beautiful. It was amazing to her that Adora could turn such figures into words and phrases, reading out the heavens. And yet, despite that incredible skill, she was depressed that she couldn’t find the answers she sought, about She-Ra, or Mara, or her home that she was torn away from as a baby. It wasn’t long until Glimmer was hatching a plan to cheer up the warrior. 

  
  


***

  
  


A knock at Adora’s door jarred her from her fitness training. She remained in her composure so she wouldn’t fall over, but had to stop her rhythm for a minute. 

“Come in!” She called, before resuming her handstand-push ups. Glimmer came in and even upside-down, Adora could see her face get pink at the sight of her against the wall as she forced her arms straight again.  _ 71, _ She thought to herself. “Hey, I’m just doing some strength training before bed.” Glimmer didn’t talk at first, so Adora stopped her rhythm again to quirk an eyebrow. “Glimmer, it’s late. Is everything okay?” 

Glimmer seemed to catch herself and cleared her throat self-consciously as Adora pumped herself up and down a few more times, the sweat running up her body. 

“Uhm, Adora. Yes. Hi. I was wondering if you have some free time to do something together?”

At the set of 85, Adora then flipped her legs down and righted herself as she grabbed a drink of water. Even though she was right-side-up again, Glimmer couldn’t help but be in awe of the tall, gorgeous, strong woman in front of her. In her short sleeved sleep shirt, her arm muscles reflected the soft light of the room in her sheer sweat, firm and tight beneath her skin. Adora wiped her mouth and caught her breath for a sec.

“Did you have something specific in mind?”

“Yes. But it’s a surprise.” Adora looked more interested if not slightly concerned. “I was thinking about stuff and the horde and the First Ones and uhm. I want to show you something.”

“Is it a First Ones ruin? Do you think it could help the rebellion?” She was now fully interested, even eager. 

“It’s nothing important, I just wanted to show you!” Glimmer smiled. “Can you meet me out by the West Gate in an hour?”

Adora nodded, and began her post-workout stretching. 

“I’ll wash up and meet you there.”

  
  


***

  
  


Which is how, after bathing and changing, Adora came to the gate in her clunky cast boot, looking for Glimmer, who was not as punctual as Adora. It was dark out, and the two moons of magic were waning over the whispering woods as a cacophony of crickets trilled into the calm summer air. It was near the garden, and Adora deeply inhaled the aroma of blooming fruits and flowers. The air in the horde was never this clean, nor aromatic and calm. Although she was fond of the constant humming and warmth of machines (being without it for the first time in her life made it hard to sleep when she arrived) she adored the summer nights in Bright Moon. 

The familiar chime of Glimmer’s powers activating nearby alerted Adora of her arrival in the second that she appeared in a pink vapor. She looked around her and saw Adora, ready and waiting. 

“Adora! You made it out okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Uh, because we’re sneaking out?”

“Wait, this isn’t an official mission? What are we doing?” Glimmer put a finger to her lips as she urgently watched a shadow move through the castle windows nearby, only breathing when it passed completely without noticing them. 

“Come on, we’re going to the fields near the woods.” Glimmer said, now in a hushed whisper. “You’re going to love this.”

Glimmer took Adora’s hands and teleported them both away. She moved them down a long path in several teleports at rapid speed, and Adora could hardly keep up with the scenery flashing in blinks before her. Finally, they both stopped and Adora couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

“Oh sorry, are you okay?” Glimmer asked. 

“Yeah, just a little fast.” Adora admitted. “Where are we?”

Glimmer started walking out of the small grove they were in, revealing that she had landed them nearby one of the farms that provided food for the rebellion. The grass came up to her hips, and Adora followed behind.

“It’s one of the fields from a nearby farm.”

“What’s a farm?”

“I’ll explain later. I don’t want to miss it!” She hurried to the center of the field, where one could see miles in any direction of the flat, open land. “Okay, now we wait.” She said excitedly. 

Adora looked around at the acres of tall grass in confusion.

“Wait for what? Glimmer, there’s nothing here. It’s just an empty field.”

“I know it looks like that now, but just wait. They should come out soon.” Glimmer promised.

“Who? Are we meeting someone?” Adora strained her eyes in the dark to search the spanse of the plain. “It’s just a field.” Then, a quick blink of light in the distance stopped her. She looked again, wondering if she imagined it, but it blinked in and out of existence once again. She reached for her sword, but Glimmer stopped her.

“It’s okay, it’s totally safe.” She whispered. “Look…”

Adora looked all over the field in confusion and wonder as slowly, small lights started flickering all over the grass. They were greenish in color, and seemed to sway or move slightly while they were lit, which was never more than a second. It couldn’t be electrical light, there were no wires out here that she had been able to detect. Her eyes widened as the lights became more numerous until she was completely surrounded by them, whirling around with wide eyes at the spectacle. She gasped as the lights started to form higher and higher above the grass as though slowly floating up until they filled the sky with their lights, dancing around her body and transforming the plain field into a light show.

“This is… incredible….” She gasped, looking up at the sky filling with lights. “What is this?”

Glimmer was smiling from ear to ear, her mouth slightly open as she looked up at the sight.

“It’s a special bug that can glow at night. They only come out in the summer.” She explained. “They’re called fireflies.”

Adora reached out to a light that floated nearby her, as it’s light faded in and out in a pulse. Adora giggled at it with unexpected glee at the magical view. 

“I thought about it when you were describing the stars. I think this is the closest we have on Etheria... How does it measure up? Is it like the stars?” She looked at the face of a warrior soldier gone soft with the joy of a child, and her face felt hot. The two of them here shrouded in magical green lights, moving about and flickering enchantingly with the light breeze. 

“No…” Adora breathed “This is… so much better.” She lifted her arms to the dancing flashes like she was swimming in the cosmos. Their smiles both grew. Adora felt like all the magic in the world, that she could inhale that crisp summer night air while she moved among the heavens, that great immovable force that now flew all around her with life. With a light breeze, the lights swayed like particles in a great wave, they bobbed around in unison as Adora gasped again. The stars were tiny and static compared to the scale of the bugs around her. 

She looked at Glimmer with a wide open smile, hardly able to contain a laugh. It was like she had brought the death of the stars back to life, and she didn’t know how to thank her. 

“This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen… Glimmer, thank you!”

And Glimmer was sure that Adora had reflected that light from the bugs back tenfold with the light of the moon. The sight of that hardened soldier, breaking down her barriers and vulnerabilities completely, that was brighter than the morning moon in the day. Her cheeks became hotter again and she bit her lip to hold back her nervousness. But she swallowed her confliction and leaned up to kiss Adora gently on the lips. 

Adora’s face went from delight to dumbstruck awe, and she looked confused as she stood there frozen for a moment, forgetting how to breathe. Glimmer immediately felt embarrassed, realizing that Adora probably had no idea what that was or what it meant.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t, uh,” She stammered, while Adora’s cheeks also became pink, and her posture loosened some, before looking back at Glimmer from whatever space she was staring into with a smile. “Oh geez, do you even, ugh,”

“Glimmer?” Adora cut off her rambling. “It’s okay, I know what kissing is.”

“You do?”

“Yes, we still had all that stuff in the horde.” Now Adora was becoming embarrassed, and rubbed the back of her neck. She ignored the shimmering fireflies as she reached out to take Glimmer’s hand. 

They both stood there like that for a while, both flustered with red blushes growing on their faces as they held hands quietly among the green glow. 

Adora tried her hardest to retain her composure, but she realized that this was her first ever kiss. And with that, she recalled what Catra had realized in the jungle. She didn’t know if this was her first kiss or not, it was the only one that she remembered but she owed her firsts to another. She desperately hoped that her face didn’t show that hesitation, but Glimmer saw straight through her. 

“Adora, I’m sorry, if I overstepped,”

“No no, it isn’t you, Glimmer. Really. This is so all incredible, and amazing, but I’ve never done anything like this before.”

“I get it, we can take it slow.” 

Adora looked around at the fireflies again, somewhat wistfully. Was this her first kiss? Or would saying that betray Catra even more than she’s already been hurt. It felt more dishonest the more Adora thought about it, but at the same time, she couldn’t do anything to hurt Glimmer. She squeezed Glimmer’s hand as she looked back. 

“Slow would be good.” Adora agreed. 

  
  


***

  
  


They arrived back at the castle late, without detection. Adora stared up at her ceiling, wide awake into the small hours of the night. She felt… conflicted. And that was all she knew about how her thoughts were itching in her head.

It wasn’t unexpected, that she was feeling conflicted. She was still thinking about Catra, recovering in the Fright Zone. She had admit to having feelings for her, which was true. She had felt something for her for years now, and as much as she hated to admit it, those feelings hadn’t faded even after everything that had happened. 

And then, there was the fireflies. That had made her feel something totally different. She hadn’t noticed how close she had grown with the princess of Bright Moon.

It wasn’t like she was unfamiliar with relationships. They were allowed in the horde, as long as they followed certain guidelines. After all, there was no realistic way that they could realistically expect to ban dating with a literal army of child soldiers living in close quarters. There was attraction, flirting, dating...intimacy. But as long as it didn't interfere with their work or they didn’t “fraternize” it was all fine. But Adora had never engaged in any kind of relationship, she was too focused on her career. 

She had wanted to act on her attraction. There had only ever been one, in the horde. But she knew what would happen if she did. Shadow Weaver. Adora would be punished, but Catra would be the one to blame. She had strict rules for the two of them never to engage in anything that would slow down their career, especially Adora, or there would be severe consequences. 

Just the thought of what Shadow Weaver would do to them made Adora shiver. She curled up in her bed uncomfortably, just from thinking about her old mentor. She still kept up all the old rules that her teacher had set, even without realizing it. Even though they were now distinctly enemies on opposite sides of the war, she was still terrified to think of what Shadow Weaver would do to her if she found out what she had done tonight. 

Adora remembered the fireflies, flashing all around like she was swimming through the universe. It wasn’t unpleasant at all, it even felt good. The memory of the lights and the soft touch of lips chased away the fear of Shadow Weaver. Whenever she had thought about r elationships before, she was certain that acting on her attraction would only cause dread. But for the first time, the knot in her stomach loosened and turned into butterflies. 

Adora softened her grip that she didn’t realize she had on herself as she breathed out evenly. For the first time, she actually remembered what it felt like to be kissed. And the warmth of the thought, of kissing Glimmer, was able to defeat the fear of Shadow Weaver. Which was good. She had never been able to do that before. Usually she spiraled into an anxious mess, but now she smiled with red cheeks when she remembered how Glimmer had to lean up on her toes to make up the difference in their height... She wanted to kiss Glimmer again...

It felt like something she wanted more of. Even though she was afraid of intimacy, alien to the idea of being loved, she wanted to feel good. She always thought that if she wanted that then it must be selfish, but here she was, curled up in bed, unable to stop thinking about the princess in the field of fireflies. 

It felt familiar to how she felt with Catra, but different. Worlds different. In the horde, they had a saying, “You’re comparing protein bars with ration bars.” It was meant to mean that you can’t compare things which are too different. Here, they said “Apples and Oranges” whatever that was. But this wasn’t in league with that either. Comparing Catra and Glimmer or her feelings for them in Adora’s mind was like comparing things that would never be said in the same sentence, like comparing something as different as lettuce and zippers. Not that lettuce or zippers were necessarily comforting or attractive to her, just, urgh. Okay, focus.

They both felt comforting, but in different ways. Catra was like a fast heart rate, a sense of familiarity, the knowledge that she didn’t need to put up barriers with her like with others. But Glimmer, Glimmer was a total sense of safety and security, something she never really knew before this intimately. Glimmer was new experiences every day and finding the answer to right and wrong on your own. She loved them both, but couldn’t possibly make a distinction between the two.

Adora sighed, a little shakily. How could things that made her feel so good also make her feel so… confused. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Multishipping is good, actually.   
> Stay tuned for daily updates, and please comment if you like it.


End file.
